In the US. Tipping historically is given when good service has been given. It usually ranges between 10-20 percent. That said, in the last year or two there is a new trend on tipping whenever a sale happens (even if an extra service level hasnt been given). - I dont do that.
when I do tip. its usually around 15-20 percent. I usually round the number to whatever the even dollar amount is… so im never always “x” percent. I do tip depending on how well the service is.
Another batch of greenies from our small garden, preparing for preserve.
Some may be used fresh, some frozen or dried for later use during the winter time:
Aside of this, we prepare some tarragon vinegar, to be used later for some soups but not limited.
(ignore my tools from the background)
What is them plants/veggies called? I think I saw Beetroots?
Somehow, along the way, it has been turned into a way for employers to subsidize for their employees’ lower than average wages, or, as I just found out, it has it roots back in feudal Europe 
I do wish many more restaurants and bars in the US, and maybe North America as well, would include the tips within the prices of the food, or mentioned in the menu that the bills would include maybe a 10% of service fees/gratuities fee. That would make the mental gymnastic of calculating the tips after every meal/drink more bearable.
And please abolish the tipping tablet screen at takeout or coffeeshop altogether 
Is a sort of turnip. I used only the stems in the mix, the root will be used as a snack and the leafs to make ‘sarmale’
For the rest parsley, lovage, some scallion and so on.
The mix will be freezed.
The dill has to dry and will use later to make pickles (it is one of the key ingredients).
The vinegar with tarragon will be used for various soups, e.g. bean soup like this:
In the above, smoked turkey is used, but it works also with pork … or any other smoked meat (we usually do it with pork knuckle)
some other weekend activities at my mother in low location
making your own wine involve some processing.
here we bottle the wine from the past year, to make the barrels available for this fall.
the storage rack was yet another weekend project in collaboration with my brother in low, few years ago… yeah, sometime we are bored and do stuff like this
(he is working also in IT)
My alcohol tolerance is super lowww (and I also got Asian Flush) so I cannot really appreciate the, I guess you could call, nuances of different wines and other alcoholic beverages.
Although those ice wine that I tried while on a tour in Canada were really nice, partly due to how sweet they are 
Got a new batch of zuchinni from my brother in low (about zuchinni later, i think he hates me) and a bag of cucumbers from my mother in law.
A bit to much to consume fresh right now, time to be inventive.
Why not some pickles?
To Do.
We spent one week in ‘vacation’… home, we had to do some quick action in our garden.
we have to process those :
and the heck if i know what to do with such:
In the second picture, are those cucumbers or zucchinis? Sometimes I couldn’t tell the difference as zucchinis are not very common in Vietnam.
Wait, so those pickles I had in Russia were actually Zuchinnis? 
Cucumbers.
(when pickled they are also referred as gerkins)
Zuchinni’s are in the very first picture (yellow and dark green), those I sliced and added to cucumbers for pickling.
Those are mega cucumbers.
We was few days out, exactly when the time to harvest … and when we came home found those 
Unfortunately there is nothing I can do with them, too old so too watery. They went to compost.
Is not usual to do pickles with zuchinni, it is an experiment.
Few years ago we put also few plants in our garden, various.
And the unexpected … our garden was quickly invaded. They grow like zergs!
We harvested a lot and had to be very inventive, we pickled, we cooked whatever recipe’s we found … but omfg, was too much.
Since then, I have bad memories with zuchinni (and my brother-in-law knows … he have a dark sense of humour… )
Another zuchinni dish we made, sort of ‘bread’
Choped, squezeed to take out the water, mixed with yellow cheese, baked
Add parmigiano regiano, some oregano and thyme, black pepper, bake a bit more.
It was good
Still have one or two remaining, will do probably a ratatouille
The cucumber + zuchini experiment went ok.
After about 5 ~ 7 days are ready.
For long time storage one more step is needed.
Take out the brine, boil it, put it back hot, seal the jars.
Should look like this in the end:
After cooling, store in a dark cold place (e. g in the basement, i dont have such so i am going to use my garrage as a pantry)
Pickling stuff seems simple enough, perhaps I should start with cabbages and make Sauerkraut? 
Why not to do your own?
Seriously, is not rocket science and to be noticed, the process has been discovered many years/centuries ago, when no supermakets or fancy sterilizing methods where added for mass production.
So, why don’t you give it a try?
You may fail at the begining (ofcourse there are secrets, depend by the recipe you choose) but with the time you will figure it.
If you need the recipe for cucumbers, let me know and i will provide a tutorial.
That will be next level, it is a bit more complex but not that complex as romanian sauerkraut or the mixed pickles, which are for the grandmaster level.
After that, you can try to do your own kimchi, which is the final level imho.
Will do, haha. Will let you know how it goes.
Anyway, below are some of the dishes that I had during my trip to Bangkok last week with three of my friends a.k.a. my endless summer vacation 
On the first day after we arrived and checked in at the Airbnb, we went for some boat noodles (apparently, the name “boat noodles” comes from the way of which this dish was served → More info here.
I distinctively remember that we ordered only 4 bowls (each with a different flavor) just to try out how they like first. But the waiter got our order wrong, and instead got us 4 bowls per flavor → 16 bowls in total . But, it was no big deal since the portions were small and we were starving anyway.
I particularly like the beef noodles with wide rice noodle (the one with the dark broth). The best part? The whole meal only costed 91THB → about $2.6
For dinner, we went to a placed called T&K Seafood right in the middle of Chinatown. We ordered:
The Tomyum was definitely the highlight of the meal. It was not overly sour, and I think the cook used more coconut milk than what was needed (maybe to cater to non-Thai palates?). But what came out suited our taste better than we expected.
And the prices in total? Only $13 (or 435 THB/person) I think I am in love with Thailand more and more now
All in all, 11 outta 10, I believe a second trip is in order 
